The queen, but not the brood, drives brain gene expression in bumble bee workers

Worker reproduction in social insects is often regulated by the queen, but can be regulated by the brood and nestmates, who may use different mechanisms to induce the same outcomes in subordinates. Analysis of brain gene expression patterns in bumble bee workers ( Bombus impatiens) in response to the presence of the queen, the brood, both or neither, identified 18 differentially expressed genes, 17 of them are regulated by the queen and none are regulated by the brood. Overall, brain gene expression differences in workers were driven by the queen’s presence, despite recent studies showing that brood reduces worker egg laying and provides context to the queen pheromones. The queen affected important regulators of reproduction and brood care across insects, such as neuroparsin and vitellogenin , and a comparison with similar datasets in the honeybee and the raider ant revealed that neuroparsin is differentially expressed in all species. These data emphasize the prominent role of the queen in regulating worker physiology and behavior, and the need to consider components other than the queen when examining regulators of worker sterility. Genes that serve as key regulators of workers’ reproduction are likely to play an important role in the evolution of sociality.